Today we were lazy travellers. We signed up for the 'countryside tour' offered by a local tour company. There were a few little sights around the Kampot area that I thought would be nice to visit and this was the easiest way to do it. We thought about renting a little motorbike, but then I thought about the mass frustration, arguments and stress that would cause us both being on the same bike together and decided against it. Also, Brian's not quite feeling confident in his ability to drive one, and the lack of traffic rules complicates things a bit...

So instead, we zipped around the countryside in a tuk-tuk at around 25 km/hr getting our bottoms massaged by Cambodia's roads.

Went to see one of the many salt fields along the coast where they bring in the sea water into shallow pools and allow the water to evaporate leaving the salt

. Then we went to a pepper plantation to see the plants in action! These are vines that grow up 10 foot posts for about 4 years before they harvest the peppercorns off of it. I do need to do some research as I swear I saw pepper TREES when I was in Africa...

Went to explore some of the caves that are in the small limestone hills around the area. Walked along with some local kids who spoke impeccable English and had a great time poking about and walking through rice fields.

Then we went to the famous Kep area to try some fresh crab that they're busy hauling out of the water right there. Unfortunately, since we were with a Tuk-Tuk driver, we ended up going to, I think, the most expensive restaurant on the strip, but it was delicious! And I have to stop and put things into perspective every now and then. Expensive for our budget in a country like Cambodia, yes, but for a fresh crab dinner with drinks totalling $12 US, we're still doing ok :)

Came back to our bungalow to find some alarmingly large poo on the floor. Of course, the first thing we start to do is dissect it to find out who left it. Brian swears he was hearing rustling in the grass roof, but I couldn't see anything. Later, I flashed the light around and saw a huge gecko hanging off the ceiling (12” or so!). The next day, this had multiplied to 2 geckos...I wonder if they're breeding?

After being a tourist today, I think we'll turn independent again tomorrow.